The camera assistant who lost her life when she was hit by a train while shooting Allman Brothers biopic Midnight Rider in February (14) was among the people remembered during the In Memoriam montage during Saturday's (16Aug14) Creative Arts Emmys. Sarah Jones, 27, was working on a train track in Georgia when she failed to escape the path of the oncoming locomotive.
Her death has sparked a Hollywood movement for safer sets.
Director Randall Miller, his producer wife Jody Savin and executive producer Jay Sedrish have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing, while the biopic itself has been on hold ever since the tragedy.
U.S. sketch show Saturday Night Live was the big winner at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, taking home five honours, while Sherlock: His Last Vow, True Detective, documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and Game of Thrones claimed four awards apiece.
The highlight of the night for many was Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba's emotional Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy acceptance speech.
The star, who plays jailbird Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren on the hit Netflix show said, "I feel so full, that's why the tears come out. I'm stuffed. My cup runneth over right now. I feel absolutely all of those things: I feel full of joy, like a fountain. Mission accomplished."
Prior to her first Emmy win, Aduba told reporters, "All I can hold onto today is this idea of the day I got this job, I was leaving this business, I had quit and now I'm at the Emmys, and I'm nominated for an Emmy, and my show is nominated, and my castmates are nominated."
She received her honour from Morgan Freeman and told the media backstage, "It's like you're walking and you're aware that you're walking toward Morgan Freeman, but you're fairly certain you should still be sitting on your seat. You're like, 'Maybe I'm embarrassing myself, maybe they called somebody else's name and I don't know what's happening'"
There were also awards for Allison Janney (Guest Actress in a Drama for her role in Masters of Sex), and Scandal star Joe Morton (Guest Actor in a Drama).
The ceremony - the precursor to the primetime Emmy Awards, which will be held later this month (Aug14) - was staged at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

The Oscar nominations came out on Thursday morning, and as of now, it's anybody's race. Some say 12 Years a Slave has it in the bag, while others think American Hustle will snatch the Best Picture trophy. There's no one way to know for sure — does the Academy weigh emotional impact? Flashy performances? The film's lasting message?
How about titles? Yes, you can tell a lot about a film by its title, and about its Oscar chances, too. We've compiled some handy data about each Best Picture nominee's title and what it says about the film's chances come time to hand out the awards. (You can also head over to BBC America to check out this fantastic infographic that predicts the Best Picture winner!)
AMERICAN HUSTLE
Columbia Pictures
Movies with the word "America" in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 2 (An American in Paris; American Beauty) ...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 2 (America, America; American Graffiti)
Movies whose titles refers to a crime or act of duplicity......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 2 (Mutiny on the Bounty; The Sting)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 11 (The Racket; She Done Him Wrong; Imitation of Life; Libeled Lady; Grand Illusion; The Caine Mutiny; The Hustler; Mutiny on the Bounty; The Killing Fields; The Fugitive; Traffic)
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
Movies with a main character's surname in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 10 (The Great Ziegfeld; Ben-Hur; Tom Jones; Patton; Annie Hall; Kramer vs. Kramer; Gandhi; Schindler’s List; Forrest Gump; Shakespeare in Love)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 45 (Disraeli; Trader Horn; Arrowsmith; The House of Rothschild; Alice Adams; Captain Blood; David Copperfield; Ruggles of Red Gap; Anthony Adverse; Dodsworth; Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; The Story of Louis Pasteur; The Life of Emile Zola; The Adventures of Robin Hood; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Kitty Foyle; Citizen Kane; Here Comes Mr. Jordan; Sergeant York; Mrs. Miniver; The Magnificent Ambersons; Madame Curie; Wilson; Mildred Pierce; Johnny Belinda; Julius Caesar; Mister Roberts; The Diary of Anne Frank; Elmer Gantry; Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb; Mary Poppins; Doctor Zhivago; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Doctor Dolittle; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Barry Lyndon; Prizzi’s Honor; Jerry Maguire; Good Will Hunting; Saving Private Ryan; Erin Brokovich; Capote; Michael Clayton; Lincoln)
Movies whose titles include a military rank......to win a Best Picture Oscar: o...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 6 (The Smiling Lieutenant; Captain Blood; Captains Courageous; Sergeant York; Saving Private Ryan; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Focus Features via Everett Collection
Movies with a city name in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 4 (Cimarron; Casablanca; An American in Paris; Chicago)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 18 (Hollywood Revue; Shanghai Express; San Francisco; In Old Chicago; The Philadelphia Story; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Casablanca; Roman Holiday; Peyton Place; Judgment and Nuremberg; Chinatown; Nashville; Fargo; L.A. Confidential; Gangs of New York; Munich; Letters from Iwo Jima; Midnight in Paris)
Movies whose titles seem like they should probably have a possessive apostrophe, but don't......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 0...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 4 (Boys Town; Kings Row; Dead Poets Society; Howards End)
GRAVITY
Warner Bros via Everett Collection
Movies whose titles are a single intangible noun......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 1 (Crash)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 8 (Alibi; Suspicion; Crossfire; Deliverance; Traffic; Atonement; Inception; Moneyball)
Movies whose titles end in "ity"......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 1 (From Here to Eternity)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 3 (Double Indemnity; Atlantic City; Sense and Sensibility)
HER
Warner Bros via Everett Collection
Movies whose titles are made up three letters or fewer......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 0...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 4 (Z; JFK; Ray; Up)
Movies that have the word "her" in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 1 (Ben-Hur)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 1 (Hannah and Her Sisters)
NEBRASKA
Paramount via Everett Collection
Movies with U.S. state names in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 0...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 2 (In Old Arizona; Mississippi Burning) *Note: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Gangs of New York both refer to cities, not states, and the "Virginia" in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a human woman.
We loved Nebraska, but this is really the only one we could think of for it. Sorry, Alexander Payne. Sorry, everybody.
PHILOMENA
Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
Movies whose titles are just a main character's first name......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 5 (Rebecca; Hamlet; Marty; Gigi; Oliver!)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 20 (Skippy; Cleopatra; Ivanhoe; Shane; Fanny; Cleopatra; Alfie; Lenny; Rocky; Julia; Norma Rae; Tess; Bugsy; Babe; Elizabeth; Seabiscuit; Ray; Juno; Precious; Hugo)
Movies whose titles were mispronounced by Leonardo DiCaprio on live television......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 0...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 0 (There can be only one Philomania.)
12 YEARS A SLAVE
Fox Searchlight
Movies with numbers in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 6 (It Happened One Night; Around the World in 80 Days; The Godfather Part II; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Million Dollar Baby; Slumdog Millionaire)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 36 (Seventh Heaven; Five Star Final; One Hour with You; 42nd Street; The Private Life of Henry VIII; One Night of Love; Broadway Melody of 1936; A Tale of Two Cities; Three Smart Girls; One Hundred Men and a Girl; Four Daughters; One Foot in Heaven; 49th Parallel; Henry V; Miracle on 34th Street; A Letter to Three Wives; Twelve O’Clock High; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Three Coins in the Fountain; The Ten Commandments; 12 Angry Men; The Defiant Ones; A Thousand Clowns; Anne of the Thousand Days; Five Easy Pieces; Born on the Fourth of July; The Godfather Part III; Four Weddings and a Funeral; Apollo 13; The Sixth Sense; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; District 9; 127 Hours; Toy Story 3; Zero Dark Thirty)
Movies that refer to a unit of time in their titles......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 2 (The Best Years of Our Lives; Around the World in 80 Days) ...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 9 (One Hour with You; Lady for a Day; The Yearling; The Longest Day; Anne of the Thousand Days; Dog Day Afternoon; Remains of the Day; The Hours; 127 Hours)
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Paramount via Everett Collection
Movies whose titles include mention of an animal......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 3 (The Deer Hunter; Dances with Wolves; The Silence of the Lambs)...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 17 (Of Mice and Men; The Little Foxes; The Maltese Falcon; The Ox-Bow Incident; The Snake Pit; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; To Kill a Mockingbird; The Lion in Winter; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Dog Day Afternoon; The Elephant Man; Raging Bull; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Black Swan; War Horse)
Movies whose titles include the name of a street......to win a Best Picture Oscar: 1 (The Broadway Melody) ...to get nominated for BP, but not win: 5 (42nd Street; The Barretts of Wimpole Street; Broadway Melody of 1936; Miracle on 34th Street; Sunset Boulevard)
Cast your bets, folks. Captain Phillips looks like it has this one locked down.
*Special thanks to Hollywood.com writers Julia Emmanuele and Jordan Smith for helping to compile data and entertaining the madness of this post, and to our CTO Greg Zimerman for recovering hours of work after my Word Doc crashed. You're a hero, Greg.
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USA Network
Apparently Jeff Eastin, the show's creator, decided his New Year's Resolution was to really toss things into high gear with this episode. He succeeded.
The episode aired with Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) running in the park (all that was missing was the title music for Chariots of Fire in the background), ruminating on what had gone on with Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and his recent actions that, while keeping him out of jail, seriously crossed lines in terms of lawfulness in Burke's eyes. He then got a call from the FBI Section Chief Bruce (Boris McGiver in a decidedly different role than the assassin Hersh on Person of Interest) who said that Washington was ready to hire Burke. It was a huge opportunity for the longtime FBI agent, but as Agent Clinton Jones (Sharif Atkins) told him in the next scene, Caffrey was holding him back and Jones suggested that Caffrey should learn to take responsibility for his own actions. Of course, neither agent had a clue what was REALLY going on.
Caffrey and Mozzie (Willie Garson) went to meet Curtis Hagen (Mark Sheppard) at a public water fountain. Caffrey wanted to renegotiate, but Hagen had his own tactic - kidnapping Rebecca Lowe (Bridget Regan), Caffrey's love interest. He proved it by showing a cell phone with a live stream of her sitting in a corner of a room, gagged. Caffrey was ready to drown the scuzzy forgerer, but held back after being warned that the lovely hostage would die. Caffrey had half an hour to meet at an address with the window.
In the past few episodes, Caffrey and Mozzie had been finding their friendship really strained, since Mozzie had kept warning his friend not to get emotionally entangled with Lowe. Yeah. Like Caffrey really listened to that. He proved that there was still solidarity when Caffrey said, "I'm on my own." after Mozzie tried to get him to loop Burke in, Mozzie said softly, "No ... we're on our own." which earned a grateful beam from Caffrey. They hatched a plan to try to plant a tracking device/bug on Hagen that would allow them to both listen and follow him wherever he went.
Burke met his wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) at the park and told her that he was taking the Washington job in two weeks. Burke still felt tortured at having to accept what Caffrey had done. He also showed her the card that the late Agent David Siegel (Warren Kole) had been carrying. He was meeting an art dealer about a possible forgery. He said he was not bringing Caffrey in on it.
Caffrey and Mozzie met Hage. Caffrey showed the window pane - that should have been it, but Hagen made them stay to solve the rest of the puzzle of the Mosconi code. He said that Mosconi was covering a big secret and showed them a mural he had restored. Caffrey took this as a cue to try to sidle up to Hagen and slip the bug in Hagen's pocket. The Gods Of TV Writing had Burke call him right there, killing that chance. Caffrey said that he had to see the FBI agent so as not to arouse suspcicion. Before he left, he made Hagen call Lowe and he talked to her. Well, he talked at her, since she was gagged and couldn't say anything more than "MMPH! MMMPH! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!"
While Caffrey was with Burke trying to suss out wheter a painting was a forgery, Mozzie and Hagen were having a snark-off, with both actors leveraging their smarminess to the hilt. Hagen showed that he had the upper hand by revealing that he knew Mozzie's real name of Teddy Winters. At the art dealer, Caffrey found that the painting was indeed a fake and that it had Hagen's initials hidden on it. This set Burke on Hagen's trail, which couldn't happen. Caffrey decided to put the tracking device on Burke instead so that he could track him and know if and when he might be going after Hagen.
After hearing that Burke had pinpointed Hagen's location to where they were currently (and also some damning things about his moral character), Caffrey turned the tables on his nemesis. After having Mozzie "Rain Man" the Mosconi Codex pages, he dumped them on the ground, poured gasoline on them and then after Hagen freed Lowe, set them on fire. While Hagen spluttered, the two men dashed away, with Caffrey splintering off to meet Lowe in a harrowing scene that had me expecting her to be shot in front of him. That didn't happen as they had a long embrace. A few minutes later, Burke and Jones came in and found Hagen, smoking a cigar and seeming quite full of himself. Another problem - Jones decided to check Caffrey's anklet ... which would place him in Hagen's hideout for most of the day.
Caffrey and Lowe were sharing what they knew while hunkering at his place - and Lowe insisted on not telling the police the true story, since that would land Caffrey in jail. They decided to keep working on it together and they figured out that Mosconi may have been hiding a diamond that was the equivalent of the Hope Diamond.
In the interrogation room, Hagen, after telling Burke that Caffrey had probably framed him for that painting, took both of them to a park. A whole phlanx of police accompanied them. He began brazenly telling Caffrey and Burke to 'beg for his freedom.' Then everything turned sideways. A sniper's bullet hit Hagen, killing him instantly. As Keanu Reeves is fond of saying in his movies: Whoa...
Burke and Caffrey found the apartment that Hagen had been staking out, The address and apartment number matched the one on Siegel's card. They found that it was a home office that had impeccable records not only on the two men, but everyone in Burke's division ... and the late Agent Siegel. On top of that, Caffrey found an area where paintings had been created, and Hagen's initials practiced over and over. In another room, there was a dressing room area, with pictures of Rebecca in various stages of costumes, and the area where Rebecca had allegedly been held hostage by Hagen earlier. The two men stood there gobsmacked as the episode ended.
Immediate thoughts:
Bomer got a chance to flex some acting muscle: his near-frenzied run when Caffrey was trying to meet up with Lowe was a perfect showing of how the usually ultra-cool man was this-close to losing it.
Well, now Sheppard can go back to just playing the dastardly Crowley on Supernatural.
Was Hagen collaborating with Rebecca and got betrayed by her? This is the first time in a while that the show has made my head spin.
Caffrey: It looks like the con man got conned.
It looked like there was a bit of thawing between Burke and Caffrey at the end when they realized that Hagen may have been a pawn too. Hopefully the show can get back to the friendship of sorts they had in the early seasons.
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Oh, the weather outside is frightful. No really. It’s practically raining blood in Mystic Falls.
While fake snow fell on the town square, the death knell was ringing for 12 unlucky victims - one of whom was a Lockwood. We happen upon The Vampire Diaries' first “holiday” episode, and all we see is red. But when Death took his toll, it wasn’t Tyler whose life was snuffed out - as many of us thought - it was his mother and sometimes protector Mayor Carol Lockwood as Klaus held her helpless head in the town fountain until she slumped lifeless over the edge.
Of course, this action didn’t just happen, unwarranted. Tyler formulated a plan to kill Klaus, one that included another body switcheroo, like before, that would mean effectively losing Tyler too. Luckily, after another lovers’ spat over their warring motives in the Klaus/Vampire Cure/Hybrid saga, Caroline convinced Tyler to use Rebekah, who’s sleeping peacefully with a dagger in her chest, instead of himself for the ritual. Haley, the girl still very much in cahoots with Professor Shane of the oh-so-incomprehensible evil plan, did her best to derail this sudden compromise because it would have kept Tyler from his intended death as part of Shane’s ominous 12 sacrifices. But she’s also keeping another big secret: They didn’t need to kill Klaus, they actually need him to kill the hybrids himself. Why? We’re not sure, but knowing TVD, we will in January.
Klaus does his brutal duty all too easily. After he learned of Tyler and the Hybrids’ (which is a great sixties era band name) plan to kill him, he naturally sought revenge on his former minions, killing them in a bloody rage, but when he went after Tyler, we were left to wonder. Their paths didn’t cross for the rest of the episode, leaving Klaus to exact his rage the only way he saw possible: Taking the life of Tyler’s mother.
And in the wake of all this violence is little April Young, who’s entering into this world much like little mortal Elena did. She’s got no boyfriend/spirit guide along the lines of a Stefan Salvatore, but we watched her mimic Elena and Damon’s dance at the pageant a few weeks ago and now she’s wearing vervain jewelry and learning all the secrets of the vampire world. In this instance, April found Caroline right after Haley gave her a little neck-snap and part time death nap and if watching the pulseless Caroline rise wasn’t enough, she heard her phone call about bodies, death, and mayhem. (It takes an outsider like April to shake us out of thinking this stuff all sounds pretty normal sometimes.)
When Caroline tried to compel her, April simply walked away stunned, but with her memory still in tact. That led her right into harm’s way and a tomb where Rebekah lay daggered. If the promos weren’t enough of an indication, it’s clear April will undagger her new vampire friend, though by the end of Thursday’s episode, we just saw her staring in awe. I would spend a little more time being shocked at April’s loss of innocence, but I’m too busy getting back on the long dormant Rebekah train. Man, I’ve missed that crazy woman.
Of course, the second tragedy of the night wasn’t as bloody as Klaus’ little tirade, but it did involve some hearts asunder. After he promised Stefan he’d break things off with Elena, Damon was easily convinced to let the baby vampire stay by his side. And after a sweet morning cuddle/P.D.A. session, Elena and her new beau went to her family’s cabin, where Jeremy was learning not to want to kill his sister. When she got there, he couldn’t keep himself from trying to drive a stake through her heart as soon as she walked through the door. (Makes you excited to go home for Christmas, doesn’t it?)
Next: Elena can't listen to her heart.
Follow Kelsea on Twitter @KelseaStahlerProfessor Shane was there to help (but really he was just there to make sure Jeremy’s tattoo gets filled in so it can be his map to the cure), but he was unable to change Jeremy’s subconscious from a bloodthirsty villain to someone who still loves Elena. Finally, it was Damon who actually helped: he directs Jeremy’s energy toward an object he can love and not simultaneously want to kill as a way of focusing his conscious with his subconscious. Luckily for Beremy (Jonnie? Jerenie?) shippers, Jeremy and his impossibly muscular arms focus on Bonnie, confirming the rekindling of a relationship that’s been teased all season.
But that still leaves the sad part: Damon used his sire bond with Elena to make her leave him. After she tried to make this relationship Stefan 2.0: The Dark Side of Salvatore by invoking her last trip to the cabin (which was a blissful day with Stefan), but it only drove Damon to greater resolve. She kept asking if she felt happy because of the bond or because she was simply happy, and while Damon can be arrogant, he’s incredibly insecure when it comes to Elena. He doesn’t know the answer to her question, but he suspects her wealth of affection comes from a supernatural power and not from her heart.
Elena’s final moment with Damon, however, seems to confirm quite the opposite. She’s sired, but she’s not a robot. And when the bond compelled her body to take its rightful place in Bonnie’s car, her heart was completely present and set on staying with Damon. She still left, but not before taking a moment to give him a tender kiss that spoke volumes. It’s that kiss that makes this situation heartbreaking, but seemingly unfinished. (Whew.)
Of course, there are few problems left dangling. One is that the cure Stefan’s been depending on all season seems increasingly shady. It’s not a cure for vampirism, it’s a cure for immortality dreamed up by the Silas character Professor Shane gave a lecture on a few weeks ago. In fact, Damon is able to call Caroline and Stefan out of the messy plan over at the Hybrid Army headquarters because Shane knows so much about this immortality cure, including how to decode Jeremy’s arm map in order to get there. And while this all seems pretty great and Shane’s desire to be the Indiana Jones instead of the guy who writes books about Indiana Jones and discover Silas’ tomb himself seems like a great story, it’s shady. Damon still doesn’t trust the guy and Damon’s usually right. Besides, if he’s right and immortals are by nature blood-drinkers and this cure will take away their immortality, isn’t it possible that the reversal could mean death? If we remember correctly, TVD loves to turn grand solutions into harrowing prospects: let’s not forget what happened the time our gang killed an Original and everyone turned from their bloodline died too. Have you learned nothing, Salvatores and Co.? There. Is Always. A Catch. Always.
Unfortunately for Stefan, he can’t be bothered about a catch because he just found out that Elena and Damon were together after Damon promised it was over. Clearly, Stefan thought Damon was the obstacle to his happiness. He was in that bittersweet little pocket of denial that we all fall into after a breakup: If we just removed that damned obstacle, she’ll come back and everything will be good again. First, it was finding the cure (which he’s still interested in), but now that there’s a sire bond to blame all her behavior on, all he has to do is remove that to get the Elena he knows and loves back. This reveal was just a confirmation to poor Stefan that that is never going to happen. Of course, he doesn’t really take to Taylor Swift songs, so he started throwing tables. It’s understandable really.
And with that, we’re left to an entire month without Damon, Elena, Stefan, or Caroline. Mystic Falls’ great mysteries will have to hold back until Jan. 17. It’s alright, folks, we’ll get through it, because clearly whatever happens in four weeks will be well worth that pesky wait.
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[Photo Credit: CW]
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After the epic showdown of two weeks ago — in which friend was pitted against friend, mentor against mentee, sugar against vinegar — the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department is once again united in a common mission. In a plot line that harkens back to Parks and Rec's earlier (dare I say, fresher?) seasons, Leslie is once again on a mission to build a park. A green, lush, beautiful park located on the location that was formerly known as The Pit. Personally, I'm loving the return of The Pit this season. In fact, I would love a webisode that is essentially a live feed of the Lot Formerly Known as the Pit, featuring music by Mouse Rat. But I digress…
You're Like a Southern Belle when Rhett Butler Comes Around.
Before the opening credits, we find Leslie Knope as the guest on a local NPR-wannabe radio station (where can I get a ticket to the spoken word opera about pear-shaped women?) pleading for the citizens of Pawnee to submit résumés and designs for her new park. Fast-forward one credit sequence and a few days and we find Leslie and Ben sifted through said proposals. Unfortunately, most of them are from prison inmates and crazy people.
But ho! There is one brilliant ray of hope beaming forth from the pile of sludge! Mr. Wreston St. James, architect, has an impressive portfolio and shiny new plan for the Pit Park. There is only one catch… he's from Eagleton! Ugh, vomit, gross, cooties Eagleton. The only thing that Leslie Knope hates more than sadness, death, and the library. But thanks to Ben's coaxing and the overall lack of other options, Leslie and Ben head out to meet this Mr. St. James in person and see what he is all about.
It's love at first sight between Ben and Wreston St. James, who not only designed the biggest park I've ever seen outside of Disney World's Animal Kingdom (complete with a balloon artist extraordinaire) but also seems to be the nicest person on the face of the planet. But while Ben is enamored and wants to hire St. James immediately, Leslie is having a hard time overcoming her loathing of Eagleton as like, a place on the planet that exists. St. James really does seem to good to be true — I wouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him. But with no other viable options, Leslie is against a hard place and a vast expanse of nothing, so she decides to take a chance on Wreston. That is, after she says she's sss…. soorr… sorrrrr… sorUGH… sorry. There. She's sorry.
When Wreston sends his assistants to present his plans for the park in his stead, all of Leslie's nightmares come true. Their model of Pawnee's newest park is full of terrible, gross, nasty things — like drool buckets, cheeseburger troughs, and public showers complete with bathing instructions (the joke being that the people Pawnee are smelly and don't know how to shower) and Leslie is whatever is more angry than furious.
Determined to get an explanation, Ben heads to Eagleton for a lunch date with Wreston. Leslie, meanwhile, plans her revenge. Just as Wreston tells Ben that his lackeys worked without his permission and were fired once news of their wrongdoing reached his ears, Leslie bursts in, shaving cream cans blaring. "You want a silly tie? I'll make you a silly tie!" she screams as she attacks Wreston. Leslie, your timing is impeccable.
But, since Parks is largely rainbows and butterflies these days and never leaves a conflict without resolution, Wreston decides to forgive Leslie and move forward with his plan for the park. Which is truly awesome (the park, not the forgiveness). It even has a Lil' Sebastian fountain. Long live Lil' Sebastian — may he rest in peace.
Good Use of the Word Fiscal, Very Upscale
Gone is the swagerific, irresponsible, pipe dream-chasing Tom Haverford, and in his place is a penny-pinching, budget balancing, levelheaded businessman. "Tommy Timberlake is dead," Tom proclaims, "Long live Thomas M. Haverford: Responsible Tycoon." Tom has found a location for Rent-a-Swag and the whole gang is ready to turn it into the most beautiful storefront this side of Entertainment 720 — just as soon as they get rid of the raccoons. Unfortunately, new and improved Tom is not so much fun. He's the kind of guy who tries to order a carton of eggs from the diner, who chooses booger yellow paint because it's on sale, and whose idea of a pizza party is one small pizza without any toppings. Raise your hand if this sounds like your dad! Without his usual spunk and risk-seeking attitude, Tom might just drive the best business he's ever had into the ground.
Luckily, Ann is on hand for an intervention. "Go find your sparkle, Tom!" she says. "Don't forget who you are!" And she hands him a wad of cash, courtesy of the group, to use to spice up his new store. Newly invigorated and inspired, Tom glams up his new digs and looks just about ready for business.
Oh Hitler, You Sexy Bastard.
As City Hall's security guard, Andy is bored. He is so bored he starts to think about existence. To liven things up, he calls April down to keep him company, and the two embark on an elaborate roll-playing mission starring FBI Agent Bert Macklin and the wily Judy Hitler, daughter of Adolf. Hitler jokes abound.
Things get serious, however — as they are wont to do — when Andy and April run across a young boy who has become separated from his mother. Goofball Andy is nothing if not compassionate, so he swings the lad up onto his back for a piggyback ride and sets off to find the missing mother. Of course, the two are quickly reunited. This prompts a syrupy sweet moment in which April tells Andy that he, not Bert Macklin, is the real hero. Awww!
Best line of the night: "You have 5 seconds to get out of here or I will rip your throats out." (It's the delivery here that sells this one.)
Follow Abbey Stone on Twitter @abbeystone
[Photo Credit: NBC]
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Over the next few months, we’ll see new series soar, old series sour, and so much Jersey Shore madness, we’ll want to shower. Let’s face it: The Fall TV season is intimidating. With dozens of new and returning shows hitting our small screens, we know we have some big choices to make. So, to help you determine what to watch, we’re digging deep into the most notable series premiering this season. Where did each show leave off? Where is it headed? And who should you watch it with? Today, we're look at the returning series Parks and Recreation which is entering a fifth season that will take Leslie Knope to city council, Ben Wyatt to Washington D.C., and Ron Swanson to... J.J.'s Diner, probably.
Series: Parks and Recreation
Premiere date: Thursday, September 20
Number of seasons on air: Four going on five
Cast: The Emmy-deserving Amy Poehler, the impossibly magnificent Rashida Jones, the mile-a-minute Aziz Ansari, the hilariously uncomfortable Adam Scott, the stone-faced wonder Aubrey Plaza, the world's greatest secret agent Chris Pratt, the microchip himself Rob Lowe... and Ron f***ing Swanson: Nick Offerman.
Synopsis: Leslie Knope has served as Pawnee, Indiana's Parks Department deputy director for half a decade, but has serves as Pawnee, Indiana's most dedicated citizen for her entire life. Driven to help make her hometown the best place it can possibly be, Leslie enlists the assistance of her government-hating, bacon-loving, people-avoiding boss Ron Swanson, her image-obsessed right-hand man Tom Haverford, and the rest of her what-it-lacks-in-style-it-makes-up-for-in-substance department to turn pits into parks and dreams into reality. Along the way, Leslie meets her arch nemesis: budget-slashing government actuary Ben Wyatt... who incidentally turns out to be her soul mate.
Where we left off: After an exhausting political campaign, Leslie had achieved her lifelong dream of winning an election for public office. Now a city councilwoman, Leslie will have to balance her new position with her old job, while boyfriend Ben takes his own new steps, moving to Washington D.C. to embark upon a career as a senatorial campaign manager. Meanwhile, would-be rockstar Andy Dwyer might find a new career of his own: police officer, and Ann Perkins and Tom Haverford... yeah, they're still a thing.
You’ll like it if: You love character-based humor, heartwarming storylines, lessons about friendship, hard work, horses, and waffles.
You won’t like it if: You're a Disney villain with a cold, black heart (a.k.a. an Eagletonian), or you're some kind of salad-loving weirdo.
Required reading: Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America by Leslie B. Knope; anything by Jack London.
Who to watch with: That's the beauty — ANYONE! Your parents, your grandparents, your children, your friends, your angry neighbors, your disenchanted cousin, your goth classmate, your high school bully, your women's studies professor, your local sewage department representative, your three-legged dog... ANYONE!
What to eat while watching: If you're a Leslie, waffles. If you're a Ron, bacon. If you're a Tom, albacore tuna with crispy onions. If you're an Andy, Andy's Mouth Surprise (a.k.a Skittles Sandwich). If you're a Ben, calzones (but don't tell anyone). And if you're a Chris, vegetable loaf sweetened with fruit reduction.
Best piece of merchandise: Never leave home without your Entertainment 720 fireplace bellows.
Best fashion tip: The best thing to wear after a night of romantic forays? Red polo and slacks. The Tiger Woods look.
Advice the show has taught us: "Don't half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing." "You deserve to be a champion." "Treat yo'self."
Breakout character: First it was Ron. Then Andy. Then Jean Ralphio. Bring someone on, we'll grow to love 'em.
Inspired Halloween costume: A pirate, a police officer, T-Pain, Chuck Liddell, a sumo wrestler who has lost all the weight, a guy with a seductive pizza box, Mr. Potato Head, Sherlock Holmes... or just Oren.
Don't expect to: Maintain a fight with your friend while watching. Parks is so monumentally heartwarming, life-affirming, and humanistic, that you can't possibly expect to watch a single episode of these goodhearted shnooks banding together without realizing how much you love and cherish your own friends and family. If you enter an ep amid the throes of a feud with a lifelong pal, you'll be racing to the phone to make amends midway through the first commercial break.
Binge watching potential: It's consistently funny (the third season especially) and continuously uplifting. So make a weekend of it.
GIFs to familiarize yourself with:
Leslie
Ron
Ann and Tom
Ron
April
Ron
Andy
...and Ron
Ways to "fit in" to the Parks culture: Purchase a Mouserat CD, avoid salads/pizza, put your mouth on the nozzle when drinking from a public water fountain, show up at public forums and start chants about your cat, develop either a fervent fandom for or a stringent problem with The Twilight Saga, watch Joan Calamezzo religiously, start believing in curses, and embrace your town's horribly culturally insensitive history.
Stigmas to break: No, it's not just The Office with a girl Michael Scott. Although the documentary aesthetic is the same, Parks has a spirit and a life force unlike anything else on TV. Leslie Knope is a vibrant hero with a band of misfit sidekicks who make up one of the greatest ensembles on the air. Even if you're not a fan of The Office's good years, you WILL like Parks. It's deeper, sweeter, and more flavorful. Check it out!
[Photo Credit: NBC]
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A decade-long gap between sequels could leave a franchise stale but in the case of Men in Black 3 it's the launch pad for an unexpectedly great blockbuster. The kooky antics of Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) don't stray far from their 1997 and 2002 adventures but without a bombardment of follow-ups to keep the series in mind the wonderfully weird sensibilities of Men in Black feel fresh Smith's natural charisma once again on full display. Barry Sonnenfeld returns for the threequel another space alien romp with a time travel twist — which turns out to be Pandora's Box for the director's deranged imagination.
As time passed in the real world so did it for the timeline in the world of Men in Black. Picking up ten years after MIB 2 J and K are continuing to protect the Earth from alien threats and enforce the law on those who live incognito. While dealing with their own personal issues — K is at his all-time crabbiest for seemingly no reason — the suited duo encounter an old enemy Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) a prickly assassin seeking revenge on K who blew his arm off back in the '60s. Their street fight is more of a warning; Boris' real plan is to head back in time to save his arm and kill off K. He's successful prompting J to take his own leap through the time-space continuum — and team up with a younger K (Josh Brolin) to put an end to Boris plans for world domination.
Men in Black 3 is the Will Smith show. Splitting his time between the brick personalities of Jones and Brolin's K Smith struts his stuff with all the fast-talking comedic style that made him a star in yesteryears. In present day he's still the laid back normal guy in a world of oddities — J raises an eyebrow as new head honcho O (Emma Thompson) delivers a eulogy in a screeching alien tongue but coming up with real world explanations for flying saucer crashes comes a little easier. But back in 1969 he's an even bigger fish out water. Surprisingly director Barry Sonnenfeld and writer Etan Cohen dabble in the inherent issues that would spring up if a black gentlemen decked out in a slick suit paraded around New York in the late '60s. A star of Smith's caliber may stray away from that type of racy humor but the hook of Men in Black 3 is the actor's readiness for anything. He turns J's jokey anachronisms into genuine laughs and doesn't mind letting the special effect artists stretch him into an unrecognizable Twizzler for the movie's epic time jump sequence.
Unlike other summer blockbusters Men in Black 3 is light on the action Sonnenfeld utilizing his effects budget and dazzling creature work (by the legendary Rick Baker) to push the comedy forward. J's fight with an oversized extraterrestrial fish won't keep you on the edge of your seat but his slapstick escape and the marine animal's eventual demise are genuinely amusing. Sonnenfeld carries over the twisted sensibilities he displayed in small screen work like Pushing Daisies favoring bizarre banter and elaborating on the kookiness of the alien underworld than battle scenes. MIB3's chase scene is passable but the movie in its prime when Smith is sparring with Brolin and newcomer Michael Stuhlbarg who steals the show as a being capable of seeing the future. His twitchy character keeps Smith and the audience on their toes.
Men in Black 3 digs up nostalgia I wasn't aware I had. Smith's the golden boy of summer and even with modern ingenuity keeping it fresh — Sonnenfeld uses the mandatory 3D to full and fun effect — there's an element to the film that feels plucked from another era. The movie is economical and slight with plenty of lapses in logic that will provoke head scratching on the walk out of the theater but it's also perfectly executed. After ten years of cinematic neutralizing the folks behind Men in Black haven't forgotten what made the first movie work so well. After al these years Smith continues to make the goofy plot wild spectacle and crazed alien antics look good.
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S4E17: I don’t want to overstate this, but watching this week’s Parks and Recreation might be the best possible way any human being can spend thirty minutes of his or her time. “Campaign Shakeup” is the perfect example of what a Parks episode is and should be—some high quality, pure, uncut P&amp;R. The good stuff (as opposed to last week's episodes).
“He lost a third of his body in a motorcycle accident. The middle third. But they sutured the hell out of him. He’s fine now. Much shorter. But a good-looking, young, flat man.” – Ned Jones
At the beginning of the episode, things are going just peachy for Leslie and her beloved campaign manager Ben. The numbers in their camp are up—pundits on Pawnee’s most biting political talk show, The Final Word with Perd, are speaking favorably of Leslie and denigrating Bobby Newport, who is currently vacationing in Spain while his opponent works tirelessly to better her city. But as one might assume from the title of this week’s episode, Leslie’s campaign gets a bit of a shakeup. Newport’s father has hired a new campaign strategist, Jennifer Barkley (Kathryn Hahn), to work his son’s race. And she is good. Washington D.C. good. Therein lies the shakeup.
Leslie and Ben meet Barkley, who, politics aside, is a perfectly sweet, amicable woman, who actually thinks quite highly of Leslie and does indeed recognize her as the superior candidate. But Barkley is a competitor. It is her job to win the race for Newport, and she is dead set on doing so. And unfortunately for Leslie, she is quite capable of this task.
“Not enough ramps is the number three complaint among Pawnee seniors, right behind ‘Everything hurts,’ and ‘I’m dying.’” – Leslie
The key to winning an election in Pawnee: clinch the senior citizen vote. And the key to Pawnee’s senior citizen vote: Ned Jones (Carl Reiner—who, if you’ve forgotten, can deliver a joke like nobody’s business). Leslie and Ben pitch their plan to make senior life better in Pawnee: introduce more ramps throughout town. At first, Jones is an eager supporter of the Knope candidacy, but Barkley hypnotizes him and the rest of his demographic with promise of electronic lifts attached to every staircase in Pawnee—a perfectly impractical and expensive plan that Newport would likely never actually carry out.
War breaks out between Leslie and Barkley. For everything Leslie says and does, Barkley effectively one-ups her, embarrassing Leslie publicly via a smear ad and a faceoff on Perd’s program, chastising her naïveté and bureaucratic ideology, and twisting every comeback Leslie manages into some good old public brainwashing. Even when Leslie and Ben attack Bobby Newport for his romantic rendezvous in Europe, Barkley turns it around to make Leslie look bad. Like I said, she’s good. Pawnee is won over—Newport’s numbers skyrocket.
Interestingly, about this episode is that it ends on this down note. Leslie is losing. Newport and Barkley are at large. The campaign will continue on, and we’ll have to see if she is able to bounce back from this falter. Knope ’12.
“This reminds me of when my dad made me choose between which of my pet calves to slaughter with my own hands for my sixth birthday.” – Ron I do love the Leslie storyline. Kathryn Hahn more than keeps up with the incredible pace of this show. Leslie’s asides about Ben’s diminutive stature are endearing and funny. But the glory rests back at the Parks Department. Without Leslie, it almost literally turns into the Lord of the Flies. Chris takes Ron aside to discuss hiring a replacement for Leslie. Ron resists, promising Chris that his existing team can take on any project to prove that they are more than capable of running the department alone. In case you’re new to the show: Ron hates both big government and people, so the idea of more people making his government bigger practically gives him an ulcer. “Hello, Ann Perkins.” – Ron “That’s the first time you’ve said my entire name correctly.” – Ann “Nonsense. We are close friends.” – Ron Ron puts Ann in charge of the project: designing a water fountain that Pawnee citizens won’t be compelled to put their mouths on. The joke here is that every single person in Pawnee seems incapable of drinking from a public water fountain without putting his or her mouth on the spout itself—a clear health risk. Ann’s delivery of this joke in the talking head is what sparks the idea that this might well be one of the best episodes of Parks and Recreation in the show’s run. Pawnee is as much a character as any of the individuals who live in it—more so than many, as a matter of fact. Not only is Pawnee a unique town with a very palpable personality to it, the idea of Pawnee is so incredibly important to the storyline of Parks and Rec, and to Leslie’s character. It makes her political run that much more important—she’s not just running for office. She is working for a seat on this incredibly vivid, incredibly important character—the town of Pawnee. And the fact that it is so damn funny that all of these people seem unable to stop putting their mouths on public water fountains speaks volumes about how well this show has designed and presented its town. “Everything I’m wearing is suede! Everything I’m wearing is suede!” – Tom Of course, the project goes awry due to the general incompetence of everyone in the department. Ron and Chris arrive just in time to see the employees chasing each other down, spraying one another with water hoses. He is displeased (especially when Andy “kamikazes” him with a bodysuit of water balloons—never once losing his smile). Ron breaks the message to April that their little family (they do not use those words—but you already knew that) will have to welcome a stranger in. Neither of them is comfortable with this. So, April does the one thing she vowed never to do: care about something. She designs a spout-free fountain—a simple enough notion that is completely free of the possibility of being “mouthed.” Chris is pleased and allows the department to stay as is. The last scene of the episode depicts Ron speaking with April about her actions. April tries to pass the credit off on Ann (not wanting him to know that she actually worked at something), but Ron finds out that she is the one responsible. Thus, he asks her to step up and take on some of Leslie’s work. Not because it’d make his life easier, but because he understands how smart and capable she is, and he doesn’t want her to waste her life as his assistant. And so it begins (at least, overtly): April is growing up. Sigh happily, viewers. How did you like this week’s Parks and Rec? What do you see in the future of Leslie’s campaign? What about April’s future—where might she be headed? Let us know in the comments section, or on Twitter @Hollywood.com and @MichaelArbeiter.

Due to the chaotic cast changes, Two and a Half Men is plausibly the most-discussed returning series on network television. Up until recently, details about the removal of Charlie Sheen's character and the introduction of Ashton Kutcher's were kept secret. We now know that Charlie Harper (Sheen) will be killed, we know that Walden Schmidt, internet billionaire (Kutcher) will materialize, and we know that Alan (Jon Cryer) and Jake (Angus T. Jones) will do business as usual. Or will they?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jon Cryer revealed some additional details about the upcoming season and his character, Alan Harper. When Walden Schmidt enters the lives of Alan and Jake, the newcomer is a lonely, broken-hearted eccentric genius without much experience in love. By default, Alan is now the new "experienced ladies man." Thus, he becomes to Schmidt a sort of tutor in the venue. It sounds a little far-fetched, but Cryer says that is the feeling the show intends to emit; Alan giving anyone advice in romance is recipe for catastrophe, and the show will use this as a new fountain for humor.
Cryer revealed some more details about the new season. Charlie's death will not be banished from the characters' conscious after the premiere episode. The show will deal with the passing of the character throughout the season as Alan and Jake deal with it organically. However, Cryer also promises absolutely no sentimentality in regards to the storyline, as that is simply not the show's forte.
Lastly, Cryer stated that one character (he doesn't know which) will be institutionalized this season. It seems as though any one of them is up for grabs as a potential candidate: Alan, Jake, Rose, Evelyn... this is actually a long-time coming.
The new season of Two and a Half Men will debut Monday, September 19 at 9 pm.
Source: EW